Fuel cutoff and reset valve operable from plural positions



M. EPHRAIM, JR, ETAL 2,711,303 FUEL CUTOFF AND RESET VALVE OPERABLE FROMPLURAL POSITIONS Filed July 1, 1952 June 21, 1955 w 4 x y a w M M y 6 l5 u "k m lllllMNlllllllll I- z x w a u a z United States Patent 0.

FUEL CUTGFF AND RESET VAL'VE OPERABLE FROM PLURAL POSITIONS Max Ephraim,In, Chicago, and Robert I. Traver, La Grange, EL, assignors to GeneralMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJuly 1, 1952, Serial No. 296,534 1 Claim. (Cl. 251-263) This inventionrelates generally to trip and reset mechanisms for fuel cutofi valvesand more particularly to trip and reset mechanisms for emergency fuelcut-ofii valves as used on diesel electric locomotives.

It has been determined that for safe operation of diesel locomotivesused on the various railroads an emergency fuel cutoft valve should berequired and located between the fuel tank of the diesel engine and thefuel pump. This emergency fuel cutoff valve should be capable of beingmanually tripped to off in three separate locations,

namely, on each side of the outside of the locomotive and within theengine cab of the locomotive. These requirements have caused the use ofan emergency fuel cutoff valve which has been located at a point belowthe fuel tank of a diesel locomotive. This location, however, has givenrise to some difiiculties, the most important of which is that once thevalve has been tripped its location makes it very difficult to reset.One of the methods used to reset the valve has been to provide a trapdoor in the bottom of the locomotive floor which may be opened to gainaccess to the valve. The disadvantages of this method, however, are thatit cannot always be determined whether the valve has been tripped ornot, it is-laborious and cumbersome, and it is expensive to provide thistrap door. Other reset mechanisms not using the trap door have made itnecessary for someone to crawl beneath the locomotive to reset the valveto the open position. The disadvantages of this method are obvioussince, for one thing, there is always a certain amount of dangerinvolved for anyone who is beneath a locomotive.

One of the reasons that a means has not been devised for resetting theemergency fuel cutoff valve from a remote and easily accessible locationhas been the inadequate structure of the present trip and resetmechanism which has not lent itself to easy reset.

It therefore becomes an object of this invention to provide a uniquetrip and reset mechanism for emergency fuel cutoff valves which may becontrolled by means located remotely from the valve trip and resetmechanism in an easily accessible position.

It becomes another object of this invention to provide a remotelycontrolled sliding cam means for tripping and resetting an emergencyfuel cutoff valve.

It is a further object of this invention to provide remotely controlledmeans to trip a cut-off valve and to provide separate remotelycontrolled means to reset such a valve.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a trip and resetmechanism which is simple to operate, inexpensive to manufacture anduses a minimum of parts.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a top view of a section of an emergency fuel cutoif valvewith the new improved trip and reset mechanism attached to the stern ofthe valve and the new' remote control means for resetting the valve.

Figure 2 is a side view of the tripping and resetting mechanism andshows a cutaway portion of the axle yoke R 2,711,303 Patented June 21,1955 used to operatively connect the stem the tripping and resetting cammeans.

Figure 3 is a cutaway view of a cam portion ofthe trip and resetmechanism showinga cam and the axle yoke in the reset or set position.

Figure 4 is a partial cutaway view of the cam portion of the trip andreset mechanism showing the cam and the valve in the tripped position.

Referring now to Figure 1, a valve assembly indicated generally by thenumeral 2 is shown. This valve assembly 2 includes a valve housing 4, avalve seat .6, a valve8, a valve cap 10 having integrally formedtherewith a packing cap 12, a valve stem 14 and a valve spring 16. Thevalve 8 is attached to the valve stem 14 and is urged toward its seat 6by the helical spring 16.

Referring now to the accompanying figures, the trip and of the valve toreset mechanism for the fuel cutofI' valve will be described.

Fastened to the valve stem 14'is a yoke axle 18. This.

yoke axle 18 is fastened to the valve stem 14 by means of a washer 20and a nut 22 to prevent the axle yoke' 18 from sliding too far on thevalve stem 14. The axle yoke 18 has two oppositely disposed axles 26each provided with a roller 28. These rollers 28 are retained on theaxle:

26 by flat washers 30 and cotter pins 32. Placed against the valve cap10 and surrounding the packing cap 12 is a U-shaped member 34. TheU-shaped member 34'is provided with a pair of cam surfaces 36, whichinclude a pair of jumps or lobes 38. Connected between the open ends ofthe member 34 is a block having a lug 42 integrally formed therewith.Attached to the lug 42 by-means of a ring 44 are three trip cables 46which lead to the locomotive cab and opposite sides of the locomotiverespectively. The block is provided with threads which mate with threadson a reset rod 48. The reset rod 48 is secured to the block 40 by meansof these threads and a locking nut 50. The other end of the reset rod 48is slidingly fastened to the side sump plate of the locomotive fuel tank52 by means of a flat plate 54 tacked to the side sump plate 52 andcontaining a grommet 56. On the extreme end of the reset rod 48 a pushplate or kick plate 58 is attached for actuating the reset rod.

The operation of the trip and reset mechanism is as follows:

In normal locomotive operation theU-shaped member 34 is in the positionshown in Figure 1. When for some reason it is desired to trip the valve8 so that it seats on its seat 6, one of the cables 46 is pulled, eitherfrom one side of the locomotive or from the locomotive cab. When one ofthese cables 46 is pulled it will cause the U-shaped member 34 to movetoward the side sump plate 52. The rollers 28 on the axle yoke 18 willroll along the cam surfaces 36 riding over the jumps or lobes 38 downthe inclines of the surfaces 36 to the lower portions of the camsurfaces 36, the valve and the tripping mechanism then being in theposition shown in Figure 4. To reset the valve to the open position itis only necessary to either push the kick plate 58 or kick it with thefoot. This will cause the cam surfaces 36 to move under therollers 26and lift the valve 8 off its seat 6.

It may be readily appreciated that this type of emergency fuel cut-offvalve with its trip and reset mechanism may be used for purposes otherthan to shut olf and open the fuel supply on diesel electriclocomotives. It would threaded end extending through said cap and saidprojection, a yoke having a hole in the center thereof through whichsaid stem extends, said yoke being retained on said stem by anadjustable nut engaging said threaded end, said yoke having oppositelydisposed rollers attached thereto, a U-shaped member having legsstraddling said projection and said stem and interposed between saidrollers and said surface, said legs having opposite edges which form camsurfaces bearing against said rollers and said bearing surface, aninsert extending between the ends of the legs of said U-shaped memberand secured thereto, means to move said U-shaped member including aplurality of cables and a reset push rod secured to said insert andoperable remote from said valve, the base of said U- shaped member andsaid projection forming a limit stop to limit movement of said U-shapedmember in one direction, said insert and said projection forming a limitstop to limit movement of said U-shaped member in a direction oppositeto said first-mentioned direction, the cam surfaces bearing against saidouter bearing surface being substantially fiat, the cam surfaces bearingagainst said rollers having stepped portions joined by intermediateinclined portions, said spring means biasing said valve stem toresiliently clamp the legs of said U-shaped member between said rollersand said bearing surface, and detent means on the cam surfaces bearingagainst said rollers tending to prevent initial movement of said rollersalong said inclined surfaces, said cap being removably attached to saidhousing so that said valve and said valve actuating assembly may beattached to and removed from said housing as a single compositesub-assembly.

FOREIGN PATENTS Norway Ian. 29, 1934 Germany Oct. 30, 1936 Vermere June17, 1941 V

